Arsk ( rus, Арск, p=ˈarsk; ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of Arsky District in

Tatarstan Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, located on the Kazanka River, from the republic's capital of

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 18,114.

Etymology

The Tatar name of the town () can be translated as " Udmurt's" or "Udmurtian".

History

It was founded at the end of the 14th century.''Inhabited Localities of the Republic of Tatarstan'', p. 63 It was the seat of Archa Darugha (a type of subdivision) during the

Khanate of Kazan The Khanate of Kazan was a Tatar state that occupied the territory of the former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552. The khanate covered contemporary Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia, Mordovia, and parts of Udmurtia and Bashkortostan; ...

period. Even though the town was located in the area mostly populated by Tatars, the larger part of the ''darughas population was Udmurt. It is possible that earlier population of this area was also

Finno-Ugric Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic languages, Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in ...

, who later assimilated with the Tatars. Arsk was one of the strongest forts in the khanate. In 1506, it was the site of the Battles of Arsk Field, in which Tatar forces were defeated by the Russians but later turned the tables and won one of their most significant victories in the course of the Russo-Kazan Wars. Arsk was captured by the Russian army under Prince Vorotynsky in 1552, the same year when Kazan itself was captured. In 1606, it was rebuilt as a Russian fortress. In 1708–1796, it was the seat of Arsky Uyezd. In 1781, it was granted town status. In 1918, it was taken in an anti-Bolshevik peasant rebellion. In 1920–1930, it was the administrative center of Arsky Kanton; when the ''kantons'' were abolished in 1930, it became the administrative center of the newly formed Arsky District. In 1938, it was demoted in status to that of an

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...

. On June 27, 2008, it was granted town status again.Resolution #3900-III GS

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Arsk serves as the

of Arsky District, to which it is directly subordinated.Order #01-02/9 As a municipal division, the

of Arsk, together with five rural localities, is incorporated within Arsky Municipal District as Arsk Urban Settlement.Law #7-ZRT

Economy and transportation

There are several

light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

and

food industry The food industry is a complex, global network of diverse businesses that supplies most of the food consumed by the world's population. The food industry today has become highly diversified, with manufacturing ranging from small, traditional, ...

enterprises in the town, as well as a brick factory and a construction materials factory. The town is a station on the

– Agryz railway.

Demographics

Ethnically, the population is 83% Tatar and 15% Russian, with

Mordvins Mordvins (also Mordvinians, Mordovians; ; no equivalents in Moksha language, Moksha and Erzya language, Erzya) is an official term used in Russia and the Soviet Union to refer both to Erzyas and Mokshas since 1928. Names While Robert Gordon ...

, Mari, Chuvash, and Udmurts making up the remaining 2%.

Namesakes

The eastern part of

, which had been situated out of the Arsk Gates of Kazan during Khanate's epoch, was called Arsk Field. Later, this name spread to the cemetery, now situated in Central Kazan.

References

Notes

Sources

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External links

Official website of Arsk

Directory of organizations in Arsk
{{Use mdy dates, date=November 2012 Cities and towns in Tatarstan Kazansky Uyezd Former urban-type settlements of Tatarstan